All The Skills

Arthur expected some reaction from his proclamation, and he wasn't disappointed.

The three council members immediately exploded into instant denial.

"Absolutely not!"

"Us? Bow to the kingdom? Never!"

The third man looked at Arthur with a tinge of disgust and suspicion in his eyes. "This has been your plan all along, hasn't it? Bring us back under the thumb of your kingdom?"

Arthur ignored the three of them. They weren't the most important ones here — they didn't have the power. They were simply mouthpieces, and from what he could tell so far, they would end up voting however Chablis wanted them to.

His true attention was on Chablis and Laird. The two of them were exchanging glances, and considering one was a dragon, it wasn't subtle.

"There is more, isn't there?" Arthur asked flatly. "In the scroll."

Chablis shook her head and started to hand it over. However, Cressida intercepted the message, and with a sniff toward the head councilwoman, made a show of opening the scroll and reading through it herself.

Arthur suspected it was a noble thing. The leader didn't bother reading the main message. That was for the second in command to do, and then to report accurately.

He would've been slightly annoyed at the interruption, except that it was clearly meant to tweak Chablis's nose.

After a moment, Cressida looked up. "That's all the scroll says."

"But that is not all it means," Laird rumbled. "How did that abomination learn where the nests are located?"

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, then remembered that he had never come across the dragon nests in the hive, either. And he had been here for months.

"The Mind Singer has powers over minds," Cressida answered, impatiently. "She could direct her dragons to show the others where the nests are —"

"Nesting mothers would never reveal the location of their eggs." Joy was so upset by the thought that she raised up on her hind legs, wings extended in mild threat.

Laird nodded. "Nesting mothers are fierce, and often conceal their eggs where they shouldn’t. Yet every single one of our nests were found and raided."

"Because the Mind Singer has powers over minds," Cressida repeated, but then stopped. An odd look came over her face.

Arthur realized it too.

"Except none of our dragons were taken over by her. She only brought over other dragons she had subjugated." He looked to Cressida, and then to Brixaby, who shrugged but looked disturbed. "Maybe she was saving her power for the nesting mothers?"

Laird rumbled in amusement. "If she had the power to take over the mind of a nesting mother dragon from a long distance, she could have taken over all of us the moment that portal was open. I said the instincts of a nesting dragon are strong, but I spoke too lightly. Look at her," he nodded down to Joy who now looked nothing like her namesake. Her face was scrunched in a half growl, with her wings still extended. Cressida had moved back to her side, but she was ignoring her rider and looked ready to spring up into the air and fight the first person she saw.

Laird continued, "She's not old enough to have laid her first egg. Now imagine the ferocity of a dragon protecting her own nest." He nodded to Brixaby who was looking on in mild confusion. "The smartest thing a male dragon can do is stay out of the way until the shells are cracked and the inner cards are formed. Then the hatchlings become our problem."

"We don't know what the Mind Singer’s true powers are," Chablis started, but a sinking realization had come over Arthur. He groaned.

"She found all the nests — including the ones that were hidden. That means she has a seeking card — and a strong one." He looked to Chablis who stared back with dawning horror in her own eyes. "Maybe even a Legendary one."

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The moment the word ‘Legendary’ was uttered, it was as if shutters were drawn over Chablis's expression. She went utterly neutral to try to hide her dismay, but as Arthur was watching for it, it was as good as a confirmation.

Two of her three counselors were not so good at hiding their reactions.

One gasped. The second, the one who had accused Arthur of having an ulterior motive to bring in the kingdom hives all along, narrowed his eyes. "And how exactly would you know of a Legendary seeking card, young man?"

Arthur wasn't about to explain he had read it in notes while sneaking into the Council Chambers. Instead, he reached for his Acting skill and turned a dismissive look on the man. "How do you think? It's —"

"It is a card in my set!" Brixaby all but roared. And since he had increased in size several times over, his roar echoed. One of the counselors slapped hands over his ears. Even Laird winced. "Why wouldn't we know about it?" Brixaby continued, "Brother to my own card? It's a Legendary seeking card — the ultimate power —" He practically licked his lips.

"The Mind Singer wouldn't need to take over several hundred very fierce dragon mothers," Arthur cut in before Brixaby over-dramatically gave something away. "She would only need to use one Legendary card, and have her minions swarm over the nests. Most of the females followed after their eggs, right? They'll want to ensure that they hatched… And so does the Mind Singer."

Joy growled at that.

Chablis looked at Arthur. She wasn't a fool, and clearly guessed that Arthur still hadn't explained how they knew about the card. He considered it a good sign she wasn't bringing it up. "You said this scourgeling is a Rare? And yet you believe she has the power of a Legendary?

Arthur shook his head. "No, she has thralls willing to poison themselves… I don't think that she would give it to a human. He or she might be able to fight back with a Legendary card in their heart. But a lower-ranked dragon would only last a few minutes before the card poisoned its core. Maybe just long enough to reveal a few pieces of information. But it would be enough."

What he didn't add is that also helped explain how the Mind Singer had located him and Brixaby long enough to send a team of assassins with a Legendary card and a truly evil trap card, but likely why she didn't know they had survived. There might be some restrictions on even a Legendary seeker card… Or she just needed dragons for the upcoming fight and wasn't able to wring out the correct information.

He'd find out when he got his hands on that card.

He glanced over at Brixaby and saw his blood eyes practically burning.

Arthur had a pair of Legendaries in his heart, and it was about time his dragon had the same.

Just as his resolve hardened, one of Chablis's counselors broke in. "Assuming all of this… this guesswork is correct, your solution is completely out of proportion to our problems. We have won the day. Now is the time to rebuild, and yes, mourn the ones who were lost." He shot a feigned look of sorrow toward Joy who raised her lips in a snarl. "Our dragons will have more eggs to love and care for."

"Whoa, there!" Cressida jumped right in front of the man just as Joy struck at him with her fangs bared. Thankfully, Joy's love for her rider overrode her rage at a man who is writing off somebody else's eggs. She jerked her neck to the side just in time, and her teeth snapped on empty air less than a foot from his body. Flecks of spittle and green venom caught the sunlight before hitting the ground.

The man jumped back in a delayed reaction, clutching at his robe as if that would've given him any protection. "Why you little… You little monster!"

"Joy," Cressida said. "The man is allowed to have his opinions…" She shot him a disgusted look. "Even if they are cowardly and wrong."

Arthur half-expected Brixaby to jump in with a reprimand of his own, but the black dragon just sat on his haunches, looking pleased with her intensity.

Above, Laird chuckled. "I don’t know how to make it any more clear. You would do well to remember to be careful when talking about the death of eggs in front of a female dragon."

Arthur decided to step in before things grew out of control. “Yes, the females that are left can always have more eggs —“ he held up his hand to forestall Joy’s reaction. It was a mark of how much the pink dragon respected him that she didn’t snarl his way. “But what’s to keep the Mind Singer from raiding us again? And she’ll be stronger next time. She might even have whatever it is she’s using the Seeker card to find.”

“If your guesses are even right,” the council member snapped.

“He may be,” Chablis said with a sigh. Then she looked at Arthur. “But that doesn’t mean I will willingly give over this hive to the kingdoms.”

Arthur met her gaze. “I wasn’t asking.”

She drew in a sharp breath, and again Arthur held up his hand. “But, I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Inside, he could barely believe his own bravado, but keeping a firm grip on his Acting skill, he didn’t allow any doubt to show on his face. “Brixaby, send a message out to the hive. Anybody willing to fight may keep the combat cards they were given. Anyone who wishes to go back to crafting must relinquish their card to somebody else.”

“And what if they put the cards into their heart?” Chablis asked.

Again, Arthur met her gaze. “I happen to have a dragon who excels at stealing cards.”

Brixaby’s chuckle was downright evil.